Does Jason DeLucia Get Enough Credit?

[pamirec]

Jason De Lucia did ok in the UFC.

 

[pamirec]

Looking at his record he had a great stretch 1995-99 went 25wins and 5 losses beating Minowa, Chris Lytle, Yuki Kondo, Suzuki and loses to Bas, Kindo, Funaki. Very respectable run.

I didn’t know his record was that impressive. For some reason I thought he was one of those 2-3-0 type of record fighters from decades ago.

 

[Ballsaque]

Guys, I just stumbled upon an ancient relic—DeLucia's official website from the '90s is still up!

https://jasondelucia.com/

That is actually hilarious.

Didnt this guy keep getting whooped up on by Bas?

 

[Kinniku]

I remember his freak accident in his last UFC fight was used in later promos, including a close up to his face the moment he bends his knee

 

[Royce Greasy]

Looking at his record he had a great stretch 1995-99 went 25wins and 5 losses beating Minowa, Chris Lytle, Yuki Kondo, Suzuki and loses to Bas, Kindo, Funaki. Very respectable run.

He beat Matt Hume and Funaki as well.

 

[savemgs]

Interesting thread and yes Jason never got that much credit, he was way ahead of his time and unfortunately fought only once after UFC 2 in UFC Japan against Joe Slick which was a disappointing fight where he suffered a brutal knee injury, it's too bad because I thought he was better than Slick.

Since we're on the topic of how good was he, can someone who has good knowledge of the first UFC's and early Pancrase tell me if they believe he could have beaten either of Gordeau, Smith because those two were the finalists of the first two UFC events and I personally think Jason was better than them both in skill that doesn't necessarily mean he could beat them. Some how he got unlucky drawing Royce in UFC 2 early on I feel he would have been in the finals had he been on the other side of the bracket, I believe he could have beaten Either Gordeau or Smith since he holds a win over Funaki but would love to know what others think about those hypothetical matches.

That’s a tough question, my friend. On the night of UFC 1? Hard to say. But within a year or two, DeLucia definitely would’ve been able to beat Smith and Gordeau. Remember, he went on to defeat guys like Masakatsu Funaki, Yuki Kondo, Minoru Suzuki, and Matt Hume—way more impressive than anything those two accomplished. But on the actual night of UFC 1? That’s a different story. Probably a toss-up.

 

[savemgs]

Looking at his record he had a great stretch 1995-99 went 25wins and 5 losses beating Minowa, Chris Lytle, Yuki Kondo, Suzuki and loses to Bas, Kindo, Funaki. Very respectable run.

Not making a statement on the skill level of today’s fighters, but man, it’s kinda sad—I knew every single name you just listed. Now? I look at a random UFC card and barely recognize a quarter of the fighters.

 

[savemgs]

Yes that is all true but how would he do against Gordeau or Pat Smith was he good enough to beat either of them?

I already answered this, but yeah—on the night of UFC 1, I’m not sure. Beyond a year or two, though? Easy night for DeLucia. He fought and beat way better competition than Gordeau or Pat Smith ever did.

 

[savemgs]

That is actually hilarious.

Didnt this guy keep getting whooped up on by Bas?

To be fair, Bas—that beautiful son of a b****—beat up a lot of people. I think it eventually caught up to Jason, though.

 

[Royce Greasy]

That’s a tough question, my friend. On the night of UFC 1? Hard to say. But within a year or two, DeLucia definitely would’ve been able to beat Smith and Gordeau. Remember, he went on to defeat guys like Masakatsu Funaki, Yuki Kondo, Minoru Suzuki, and Matt Hume—way more impressive than anything those two accomplished. But on the actual night of UFC 1? That’s a different story. Probably a toss-up.

Thanks for your thoughts, even in UFC 1 and 2 he showed a lot of ground game not as much as when in Pancrase but it was still there the issue I believe would be the size disadvantage.

 

[Royce Greasy]

I already answered this, but yeah—on the night of UFC 1, I’m not sure. Beyond a year or two, though? Easy night for DeLucia. He fought and beat way better competition than Gordeau or Pat Smith ever did.

Well here's another the other potential from that time line Gordeau vs Smith who wins.

 

[Royce Greasy]

To be fair, Bas—that beautiful son of a b****—beat up a lot of people. I think it eventually caught up to Jason, though.

I'll catch a lot of flack for this but I really believe that Bas is in the top ten greats of all time and that he could handle a lot of the LHW's nowadays, just my personal opinion he was really strong willed and fearless.

 

[Royce Greasy]

Oh since reading this thread I was on YT last night and watched Pat Smith vs Kevin Jordan that took place New Hampshire, really enjoyed the fight and Smith was old by mma standards and although he lost the first 2 rounds by getting taken down in the third Jordan was fading and Smith came on with strikes looking for the finish, because of the scoring system being round based Jordan won but imo I'd have given it to Smith based on damage and effort to finish the fight.


Smith was a better fighter as he got older and learned jiu jitsu, it gave him more chances during fights to implement his game.

 

[cmw43]

Not making a statement on the skill level of today’s fighters, but man, it’s kinda sad—I knew every single name you just listed. Now? I look at a random UFC card and barely recognize a quarter of the fighters.

Yeah I barely know any guys outside of the headliners these days.